sfn 2007(ii)

6. i spent a little time at the conference in the morning, but no one wants to hear about that.

Tijuana, Mexico

7.1. i wanted to cross the border for a couple of reasons: to see what a real taco is like, to see what illicit substances there were to be bought, and to add to the slowly-growing list of “countries visited in my lifetime”. admittedly, it’s a little bit of a cheat when all you have to do is take a trolley ride and then walk through a turnstile, but hey, it still counts.
7.2. mexico makes me think of: being drunk at ten in the morning, unwashed ponchos, logan echolls, getting your kneecaps shot off in the street.
7.3. number of items encountered/experienced from the list above: 0.
7.4. blame globalization. almost everywhere you can think of visiting nowadays has become a caricature of itself, think 10 million taco stalls with waiters wearing sombreros outside pushing menus into your face as you walk past. as if there’s some global panic that if it’s not big and loud and glowing, people won’t get it, that cultural experience is somehow not legitimate unless it’s magnified to the billionth degree.

8.1. but i get ahead of myself slightly. as i said, to get into mexico, you find your way to the san ysidro terminal (where the last thing you see before leaving the USA is a gigantic mickey d’s), and walk through a pair of very innocent-looking revolving turnstiles. innocent-looking because there’s no security checkpoint or warning that you’re actually leaving the united states, which is not very considerate at all.
8.2. i figured that tijuana would be crowded, especially since it was a sunday, but the streets and courtyards were pretty empty, and many of the vendors were only just setting up shop. what was open were the pharmacies – dozens of them, selling SSRIs, Viagra, and other such wonderments.
8.2.1. i’m not going to lie to you: i was really tempted to get a box of modafinil and a one of adderall, but I didn’t, and i think i regret it.
8.2.2. (mmm…speed…)
8.2.3. i swear to you, i really didn’t.
8.3. the avenue revolucion is about a 20-minute walk away from the border. once you get downtown, the touts really start coming at you: grizzled men selling hideous silver chains, hawkers with churros and menudo and huge hunks of meat slow-roasting on spits. in contrast with cambodia, though, the people here don’t really seem to mean it. they pester and chase you up the street, but you can sense their weariness as well. they know you know the rules of the game, you know they know the rules of the game, and so on, and they’re probably not starving – turistas flock here in droves, i hear, curious californians, rich college kids with money to burn on booze and knick-knacks. the effort is kind of vestigial, like they’re putting on a show because you expect them to be pushy. in retrospect (and i'm writing this last bit from home now), it was all very self-conscious, as if the entire culture was on parade, on edge and aware that it's being watched.

9. some pictures of the avenue revolucion:






ethnic dance:



10.1. for lunch, i’m tempted by this really sketchy place with just enough room to sit about eight people shoulder-to-shoulder. it’s all locals in there, and the most wonderful smell of what i think is a very greasy roasting pig. like a coward, though, i chicken out and head for somewhere with a menu in english. yes, I am suitably ashamed.
10.2. the fish tacos and draft beer are good, not excellent, and the salsa is not a patch on the stuff daniel's wife makes*.

11. this was a market i popped into:

candy skulls for the dia de los muertos

biggest pile of chillies ever

this was kind of a weird juxtaposition, bamboo and other chinese ornaments right beneath statues of the grim reaper. covering all your bases?:



12.1. i did get a bottle of mezcal, which i’ve been wanting for a while. the shopkeeper let me sample a few kinds before i decided, and i liked this one the most: smooth, mescado, and with the little agave worm floating around in it. also, a shot glass.
12.2. i swear on my ancestors' graves that i did not get the adderall.

(cont'd)

* again in retrospect, i should not have done a sit-down meal. alas. i guess there'll be a next time.